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Early humans may have begun butchering elephants 1.8 million years ago Tue, 06 Jan 2026 19:00:57 +0000 A 1.78-million-year-old partial elephant skeleton found in Tanzania associated with stone tools may represent the oldest known evidence of butchery of the giant herbivores

The first quantum fluctuations set into motion a huge cosmic mystery Tue, 06 Jan 2026 18:00:44 +0000 The earliest acoustic vibrations in the cosmos weren’t exactly sound – they travelled at half the speed of light and there was nobody around to hear them anyway. But Jim Baggott says from the first moments, the universe was singing

Passwords will be on the way out in 2026 as passkeys take over Tue, 06 Jan 2026 17:00:46 +0000 The curse of having to remember easily hackable passwords may soon be over, as a new alternative is set to take over in 2026

Jellyfish sleep about as much as humans do – and nap like us too Tue, 06 Jan 2026 16:00:30 +0000 The benefits of sleep may be more universal than we thought. We know it helps clear waste from the brain in humans, and now it seems that even creatures without brains like ours get similar benefits

The secret weapon that could finally force climate action Tue, 06 Jan 2026 16:00:29 +0000 An ambitious form of climate modelling aims to pin the blame for disasters – from floods to heatwaves – on specific companies. Is this the tool we need to effectively prosecute the world’s biggest carbon emitters?

The first commercial space stations will start orbiting Earth in 2026 Tue, 06 Jan 2026 14:00:42 +0000 For nearly three decades, the International Space Station has been the only destination in low Earth orbit, but that will change this year. Could it be the start of a thriving economy in space?

US will need both carrots and sticks to reach net zero Tue, 06 Jan 2026 12:00:22 +0000 Modelling suggests both carbon taxes and green subsidies will be necessary to decarbonise the US economy, but the inconsistent policies of successive presidents are the "worst case" scenario

BepiColombo mission will start to unpick Mercury's secrets in 2026 Tue, 30 Dec 2025 18:00:29 +0000 The BepiColombo mission has been on its way to Mercury since 2018 and will finally start orbiting the planet and taking X-ray images in the second half of 2026

Northern Greenland ice dome melted before and could melt again Mon, 05 Jan 2026 18:30:55 +0000 The Prudhoe ice dome disappeared during a warm period 7000 years ago. Global warming could cause similar temperatures by 2100, showing the Greenland ice sheet’s vulnerability

What if the idea of the autism spectrum is completely wrong? Mon, 05 Jan 2026 16:10:03 +0000 For years, we've thought of autism as lying on a spectrum, but emerging evidence suggests that it comes in several distinct types. The implications for how we support autistic people could be profound

Weird clump in the early universe is piping hot and we don’t know why Mon, 05 Jan 2026 16:00:51 +0000 A galaxy cluster in the early universe is 10 times hotter than it ought to be, which may reshape how we think these enormous structures formed

El Niño was linked to famines in Europe in the early modern period Mon, 05 Jan 2026 15:00:19 +0000 A study of 160 European famines between 1500 and 1800 shows that El Niño weather events led to the onset of some famines and extended the duration of others

The best new popular science books of January 2026 Mon, 05 Jan 2026 15:00:17 +0000 A host of new science books are due to hit shelves in January, by authors including Claudia Hammond, Deborah Cohen and Daisy Fancourt

2026 will shed light on whether a little-known drug helps with autism Mon, 05 Jan 2026 14:00:49 +0000 The US government is approving the drug leucovorin to address rising rates of autism, despite limited evidence that it works. This year, results from the largest trial yet should give more insight into its potential

Ghostly particles might just break our understanding of the universe Mon, 05 Jan 2026 08:00:49 +0000 An analysis of several experiments aimed at detecting the mysterious neutrino has identified a hint of a crack in the standard model of particle physics

A strange kind of quantumness may be key to quantum computers' success Mon, 05 Jan 2026 12:00:59 +0000 Researchers at Google have used their Willow quantum computer to demonstrate that "quantum contextuality" may be a crucial ingredient for its computational prowess

Controversial satellites launching in 2026 will reflect light to Earth Tue, 30 Dec 2025 18:00:56 +0000 Reflect Orbital plans to launch thousands of reflective mirrors to produce "sunlight on demand", but researchers are sceptical about whether the reflected light will be enough to generate electricity

The best new science fiction books of January 2026 Mon, 05 Jan 2026 10:00:38 +0000 Big hitter Peter F. Hamilton has a new sci-fi novel out this month – and Booker winner George Saunders ventures into speculative fiction with his latest book, Vigil

2026 is set to be an even bigger year for weight-loss drugs Tue, 30 Dec 2025 18:00:00 +0000 GLP-1 agonists have already had an outsized influence on society, and with pill versions and more advanced formulations on the horizon, that looks set to continue

See how fire has changed the world's largest wetland, the Pantanal Tue, 30 Dec 2025 18:00:00 +0000 Stunning and shocking images from upcoming exhibition Water Pantanal Fire show how this tropical wetland has been hit by wildfires

Why stroking seedlings can help them grow big and strong Tue, 30 Dec 2025 18:00:00 +0000 The science behind why stroking your seedlings actually works. If you’re worried about your seedlings getting long and leggy, try a bit of home thigmomorphogenesis, advises James Wong

Why I'm going to reap the mental health benefits of stargazing in 2026 Tue, 30 Dec 2025 18:00:00 +0000 Navigating the night sky can have a positive effect on our well-being. This will be the year I learn the constellations, resolves Michael Brooks

Was our earliest ancestor a knuckle-dragger, or did it walk upright? Fri, 02 Jan 2026 19:00:36 +0000 Did Sahelanthropus, which lived 7 million years ago, walk on two legs like a modern human? It's complicated

Russia-US nuclear pact set to end in 2026 and we won't see another Tue, 30 Dec 2025 18:00:32 +0000 After the New START treaty expires in February, there will be no cap on the number of US and Russian nuclear weapons - but some are sceptical about whether the deal actually made the world safer

Gargantuan black hole may be a remnant from the dawn of the universe Fri, 02 Jan 2026 12:00:18 +0000 Astronomers were puzzled by a black hole around 50 million times the mass of the sun with no stars, spotted by the James Webb Space Telescope – now simulations suggest it could be a primordial black hole, something we have never seen before

Chess can be made fairer by rearranging the pieces Thu, 01 Jan 2026 19:00:10 +0000 Chess960 involves shuffling the pieces at the back of the board, and an analysis suggests doing so can increase the complexity of the game to favour white, black or neither player

The cost of weight-loss drugs should fall in 2026 Tue, 30 Dec 2025 18:00:12 +0000 The price of weight-loss drugs like Wegovy put them out of reach for most people with obesity, but new arrivals and expiring patents should change that this year

Our verdict on The Player of Games: Iain M. Banks is still a master Fri, 02 Jan 2026 08:55:57 +0000 The New Scientist Book Club has just finished our December read, Iain M. Banks's sci-fi novel The Player of Games - and most of us were fans of this big-thinking Culture tale

The challenges of writing from the perspective of a sex robot Fri, 02 Jan 2026 08:45:44 +0000 The author of the award-winning science fiction novel Annie Bot, the January read for the New Scientist Book Club, on how she created her startling protagonist

Read an extract from Annie Bot by Sierra Greer Fri, 02 Jan 2026 08:45:00 +0000 In this extract from the award-winning science fiction novel Annie Bot, the January read for the New Scientist Book Club, we are introduced to Sierra Greer's protagonist, a sex robot called Annie

Murder victim discovered to have two sets of DNA due to rare condition Fri, 02 Jan 2026 08:00:32 +0000 A woman's body has been found to consist of varying proportions of male and female cells because of an extremely rare form of chimerism

The best new science fiction books of 2026 Tue, 30 Dec 2025 18:00:00 +0000 On the horizon for this year are Ann Leckie's latest, Neil Jordan's debut and more from Adrian Tchaikovsky. Exciting times, says our sci-fi columnist Emily H. Wilson

The best new popular science books of 2026 Tue, 30 Dec 2025 18:00:00 +0000 Clear out your shelves for a bumper new crop of books by authors including Naomi Klein, Rebecca Solnit and Xand Van Tulleken, says culture editor Alison Flood

Rare Saturn-sized rogue planet is first to have its mass measured Thu, 01 Jan 2026 19:00:40 +0000 Researchers have confirmed the mass of a free-floating planet thanks to a lucky convergence of ground- and space-based telescopes

World's first subsea desalination facility will start running in 2026 Tue, 30 Dec 2025 18:00:28 +0000 Flocean, a Norwegian company, is set to open the world’s first commercial-scale subsea desalination plant, an approach that could cut the cost and energy used to make seawater drinkable

2026 Mars mission will set out to solve the mystery of its moons Tue, 30 Dec 2025 18:00:10 +0000 The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency will be launching the Martian Moons eXploration mission next year, which should finally tell us how Mars acquired the moons Phobos and Deimos

Could James and the Giant Peach inspire the future of food? Tue, 30 Dec 2025 18:00:00 +0000 In the latest in our imagined history of inventions yet to come, Future Chronicles columnist Rowan Hooper reveals how by the 2030s, botanists had worked out how to grow hybridised superplants to help feed the world

The weight-loss drugs on trial in 2026 may trump Ozempic and Zepbound Tue, 30 Dec 2025 18:00:40 +0000 Drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy and Zepbound have transformed how we treat obesity, but more effective treatments could be down the road

The 3 things you should do this New Year to foster a positive mindset Thu, 01 Jan 2026 09:00:29 +0000 Olivia Remes, a mental health researcher at the University of Cambridge, says these are the three things everyone should do this New Year to cultivate a more positive mindset

US to fire up small reactors in 2026 as part of 'nuclear renaissance' Tue, 30 Dec 2025 18:00:10 +0000 Eleven companies are working towards an ambitious goal as part of the US Department of Energy's plan to fast-track the development of advanced nuclear reactor technologies

Could 2026 be the year we start using quantum computers for chemistry? Wed, 31 Dec 2025 17:00:30 +0000 Understanding the chemical properties of a molecule is an inherently quantum problem, making quantum computers a good tool for the job – and we may start seeing this take off in 2026

The emotion you never knew you had, and how to feel more of it Tue, 30 Dec 2025 16:00:54 +0000 The warm and fuzzy emotion of kama muta underlies vital feel-good experiences like social connection and feeling part of something bigger. But are you getting enough of it?

EU carbon border tax will force others to cut emissions from 2026 Tue, 30 Dec 2025 14:00:32 +0000 In 2026, the European Union will start charging a carbon-emissions-based tax on imported goods such as steel, cement and fertilisers – and countries including the UK are likely to follow

Three supermassive black holes have been spotted merging into one Wed, 31 Dec 2025 12:00:27 +0000 Astronomers have found a system of three supermassive black holes, all actively feeding, that appear to be combining into a single system – a rare event that will help elucidate the physics of complex mergers

We'll learn about LSD's potential for treating anxiety in 2026 Tue, 30 Dec 2025 11:00:46 +0000 Two later-stage trials investigating LSD for treating anxiety are due to conclude in 2026, which could lead to the drug being approved for the common mental health condition

The duo kite-skiing 4000 kilometres across Antarctica for science Wed, 31 Dec 2025 08:00:57 +0000 An explorer and a glaciologist are kite-skiing across Antarctica with a ground-penetrating radar to gather data that will help understand the past and future of the ice sheet

Star that seemed to vanish more than 130 years ago is found again Tue, 30 Dec 2025 19:00:44 +0000 In 1892, astronomer Edward Emerson Barnard thought he saw a bright star near Venus, but then it vanished. We may now know why

Physicists stirred up controversy with scientific cooking tips in 2025 Tue, 30 Dec 2025 17:00:12 +0000 Cacio e pepe pasta and boiled eggs were the subjects of meticulous studies aiming to help cooks achieve perfection, but the reimagined recipes weren't always well-received

The century-long hunt for the gigantic meteorite that vanished Tue, 30 Dec 2025 16:00:07 +0000 A soldier returned from the Sahara desert in 1916 with a wild story about a meteorite that dwarfed all others. Over 100 years of hunting yielded nothing – but now twin brothers think they have solved the puzzle

The cassette tape made a comeback in 2025 thanks to a DNA upgrade Tue, 30 Dec 2025 14:00:38 +0000 With a storage capacity of 36 petabytes, a DNA-based cassette tape can hold every song every recorded, and it could be on the market within five years

The best and most ridiculous robots of 2025 in pictures Mon, 29 Dec 2025 14:00:19 +0000 Some of the world's most advanced robots showed off their skills at tech shows and sporting events, doing everything from cooking shrimp to running half marathons

A controversial experiment threatened to kill the multiverse in 2025 Tue, 30 Dec 2025 11:00:08 +0000 A photon was apparently detected in two places at once in a twist on the classic double-slit experiment, but many physicists didn't accept the results

Benefits of mRNA cancer vaccines could exceed $75 billion in US alone Tue, 30 Dec 2025 08:00:48 +0000 An analysis of ongoing trials suggests that mRNA cancer vaccines have the potential to deliver health benefits worth $75 billion each year in the US alone

Mathematicians unified key laws of physics in 2025 Mon, 29 Dec 2025 17:00:38 +0000 It took 125 years, but in 2025 a team of mathematicians discovered the solution to a long-puzzling problem about the equations that govern the behaviour of particles in a fluid

Low on energy? A new understanding of rest could help revitalise you Mon, 29 Dec 2025 16:00:36 +0000 There is a state of relaxation that few of us spend much time in, but which comes with profound well-being benefits. With healthier ageing, reduced risk of disease and feeling more energised all on offer, here's how to get there

Human-plant hybrid cells reveal truth about dark DNA in our genome Mon, 29 Dec 2025 08:00:24 +0000 It has been claimed that because most of our DNA is active, it must be important, but now human-plant hybrid cells have been used to show this activity is mostly random noise

Inside world's ultimate X-ray machine before it becomes more powerful Mon, 29 Dec 2025 12:00:42 +0000 The Linac Coherent Light Source in California has been firing record-breaking X-ray pulses for years, but now it’s due for a shutdown and an upgrade. When it is turned back on, it will be even more powerful

Microsoft made a splash with a controversial quantum computer in 2025 Mon, 29 Dec 2025 11:00:41 +0000 The Majorana 1 quantum computer was hailed as a significant breakthrough by Microsoft, but critics say the company has yet to prove it actually works despite a year of debate

New Year's resolutions work better if you know what to measure Tue, 23 Dec 2025 18:00:00 +0000 From our immune systems to our microbiomes, if you're planning to make health improvements in the new year, having an eye on the numbers can help set you up for success

Gene-edited babies are the future – but these CRISPR start-ups aren’t Mon, 29 Dec 2025 06:00:30 +0000 Three start-ups are aiming to create gene-edited babies. Columnist Michael Le Page has no doubt that editing our offspring will one day become routine, but not like this

Why we all need a little festive pedantry when it comes to snowflakes Tue, 23 Dec 2025 18:00:00 +0000 Mathematician Katie Steckles explains just why the proliferation of snowflake decorations this time of year is deeply annoying

The essential guide to proving we’ve found alien life Mon, 22 Dec 2025 16:00:37 +0000 From mudstones on Mars to strange gases in exoplanet atmospheres, tentative evidence for extraterrestrial life is starting to come thick and fast. But when we've found it, how will we know for sure?

Can a new book crack one of neuroscience's hardest problems? Not quite Tue, 23 Dec 2025 18:00:00 +0000 The ideas presented in George Lakoff and Srini Narayanan's The Neural Mind are fascinating, but the writing is far less compelling

You can upgrade your immune system, but not in the way you think Mon, 22 Dec 2025 12:00:57 +0000 From vitamin C to your microbiome and mindset, the latest science of immunity is often counterintuitive. Here's how to give your system a fighting chance to overcome infection

Mathematicians spent 2025 exploring the edge of mathematics Fri, 26 Dec 2025 17:00:04 +0000 Somewhere at the edge of mathematics lurks a number so large that it breaks the very foundations of our understanding - and in 2025 we came a step closer to finding it

2025's best photos of the natural world, from volcanoes to icebergs Fri, 26 Dec 2025 14:00:27 +0000 A village buried by a landslide, the world’s largest tidal bore and the aftermath of ferocious storms and wildfires appear in our pick of images from environment stories this year

Was 2025 the year we found signs of past life on Mars? Fri, 26 Dec 2025 11:00:39 +0000 Tantalising signs of past microbial life showed up on Mars this year, but to truly know whether they contain the answer to the biggest question in the universe, we will need to bring samples back to Earth

'Spectacular' progress has been made towards useful quantum computers Fri, 26 Dec 2025 08:00:07 +0000 At the Q2B Silicon Valley conference, scientific and business leaders of the quantum computing industry hailed "spectacular" progress being made towards practical devices – but said that challenges remain

A ghostly glow was seen emanating from living things in 2025 Thu, 25 Dec 2025 17:00:38 +0000 The detection of mercurial particles of light emanating from mice led to a flurry of interest in biophotons, a mysterious phenomenon that could have applications in agriculture

6 incredible new dinosaurs we discovered in 2025 Thu, 25 Dec 2025 14:00:37 +0000 Palaeontologists reported some remarkable dinosaur fossils this year, including a Velociraptor relative, a dome-headed pachycephalosaur and one of the most heavily armoured creatures that ever lived

How not to misread science fiction Tue, 23 Dec 2025 18:00:00 +0000 Focusing on the futuristic tech that appears in sci-fi without paying attention to the actual point of the story is a big mistake, says Annalee Newitz

The world’s first fully 3D-printed microscope went big in 2025 Thu, 25 Dec 2025 11:00:04 +0000 A microscope that cost less than £50 and took under 3 hours to build using a common 3D printer could be transformative for students and researchers with limited funding

Why it is important to make space for solitude over the festive season Tue, 23 Dec 2025 18:00:00 +0000 The festive season is a period of social connection for many of us, but alone time can be equally enriching, says Thuy-vy Nguyen, principal investigator of the Solitude Lab

Bill Bryson on why he has updated A Short History of Nearly Everything Tue, 23 Dec 2025 18:00:00 +0000 With the human family tree now more like a hedge and twice as many known moons, Bill Bryson talks to the New Scientist podcast about refreshing his 2003 bestselling book on science

What is Bryan Johnson up to now? We try to explain Tue, 23 Dec 2025 18:00:00 +0000 Feedback's eyebrows are raised at tech millionaire Bryan Johnson's latest exploits, which involve Grimes, music, and hallucinogenic mushrooms

Physicists used 'dark photons' in an effort to rewrite physics in 2025 Wed, 24 Dec 2025 17:00:45 +0000 A new theory of "dark photons" attempted to explain a centuries-old experiment in a new way this year, in an effort to change our understanding of the nature of light

The most amazing archaeology photos and discoveries of 2025 Wed, 10 Dec 2025 18:00:26 +0000 The first Denisovan skull, an ancient hunter’s toolkit and a Roman man’s brain that has turned to glass: here are our picks of the year’s most striking findings about prehistoric humans

More than 100 moons were discovered in our own solar system in 2025 Wed, 24 Dec 2025 11:00:17 +0000 Astronomers discovered a new moon of Uranus and hundreds of moons around Saturn over the past year, and there may be many more yet to be found

Alpine communities face uncertain future after 2025 glacier collapse Tue, 23 Dec 2025 17:00:59 +0000 Careful slope monitoring prevented mass casualties in the landslide at Blatten, Switzerland, this year, but mountain communities may face a growing risk of disasters

How to extend and improve your life by getting more creative Tue, 23 Dec 2025 16:00:40 +0000 Growing evidence reveals that creativity is one of the best-kept secrets for boosting your health. From live theatre to a quick crafting break, here’s how to harness the power of art in your everyday life

The best space pictures of 2025, from supernovae to moon landings Tue, 23 Dec 2025 14:00:37 +0000 The year’s most memorable moments from astronomy and space exploration include a double-detonating supernova, a private moon landing and a stunning lunar eclipse

How lab-grown lichen could help us to build habitations on Mars Tue, 23 Dec 2025 12:00:43 +0000 Scientists cultivating partnerships of fungi and algae believe their invention has far-out implications for how we create the buildings of the future

Gene therapy for Huntington’s disease showed great promise in 2025 Tue, 23 Dec 2025 11:00:33 +0000 An experimental gene therapy seems to slow the progression of Huntington’s disease by about 75 per cent, and researchers are working to make its complicated delivery much more practical

IVF success may depend on how long men abstain from ejaculation Tue, 23 Dec 2025 07:00:07 +0000 Ejaculating within 48 hours of providing a sperm sample for IVF seems to lead to greater success rates than abstaining from ejaculation for longer

Europa's thick ice may hinder the search for life in its oceans Tue, 23 Dec 2025 08:00:33 +0000 The liquid ocean on Jupiter’s moon Europa appears to be completely sealed off from the planet’s surface, which may reduce the chances of finding life there

New Scientist changed the UK's freedom of information laws in 2025 Mon, 22 Dec 2025 17:00:28 +0000 By requesting copies of the then-UK technology secretary's ChatGPT logs, New Scientist set a precedent for how freedom of information laws apply to chatbot interactions, helping to hold governments to account

A spectacular showcase of animal pictures from 2025 Wed, 10 Dec 2025 18:00:32 +0000 Our visual highlights from the animal world this year include a mouse caring for its companion, dolphins communicating in an unexpected way and a colossal squid caught on camera for the first time

Hopes of finding aliens were raised in 2025 – but quickly faded Mon, 22 Dec 2025 11:00:48 +0000 Astronomers thought they had seen the "first hints of life on an alien world" this year, but they disappeared under closer scrutiny

Black hole stars really do exist in the early universe Mon, 22 Dec 2025 10:00:37 +0000 Mysterious ‘little red dots’ seen by the James Webb Space Telescope can be explained by a new kind of black hole enshrouded in an enormous ball of glowing gas

What I’ll be doing to help detox my brain in the new year Mon, 22 Dec 2025 06:00:43 +0000 We have only just started to understand how our brains clean themselves, but columnist Helen Thomson finds promising evidence for how to boost this process

How 3 imaginary physics demons tore up the laws of nature Wed, 10 Dec 2025 18:00:06 +0000 Three thought experiments involving “demons” have haunted physics for centuries. What should we make of them today?

Cosmology’s Great Debate began a century ago – and is still going Wed, 17 Dec 2025 11:00:40 +0000 Our understanding of the true nature of the cosmos relies on measurements of its expansion, but cosmologists have been arguing back and forth about it for more than 100 years

We’ve finally cracked how to make truly random numbers Tue, 09 Dec 2025 10:00:48 +0000 From machine learning to voting, the workings of the world demand randomisation, but true sources of randomness are surprisingly hard to find. Now quantum mechanics has supplied the answer

Roman soldiers defending Hadrian’s Wall had intestinal parasites Fri, 19 Dec 2025 00:00:47 +0000 Excavations of sewer drains at a Roman fort in northern England have revealed the presence of several parasites that can cause debilitating illness in humans

Putting data centres in space isn't going to happen any time soon Fri, 19 Dec 2025 14:42:35 +0000 From massive solar panels to the difficulty of staying cool - not to mention high-energy radiation - there are a lot of engineering problems that need to be solved before we can build data centres in space

The US beat back bird flu in 2025 – but the battle isn’t over Fri, 19 Dec 2025 14:00:46 +0000 After starting the year with its first known bird flu death, the US expanded its efforts to contain the virus, which enabled it to end its public health emergency response months later

Quantum computers turned out to be more useful than expected in 2025 Fri, 19 Dec 2025 13:00:45 +0000 Rapid advances in the kind of problems that quantum computers can tackle suggest that they are closer than ever to becoming useful tools of scientific discovery

2025 was the year of online safety laws – but do they work? Fri, 19 Dec 2025 11:00:27 +0000 New laws in the UK, Australia and France were brought in during 2025 with the aim of protecting children from harmful content online, but experts remain divided on whether they will achieve this goal

High-achieving adults rarely began as child prodigies Fri, 19 Dec 2025 11:00:15 +0000 It's easy to assume that the most talented adults among us were once gifted children, but it turns out that talent during childhood is no guide to later success

Two asteroids crashed around a nearby star, solving a cosmic mystery Thu, 18 Dec 2025 19:00:49 +0000 A pair of nascent planets have been caught smashing together around the nearby star Fomalhaut, and in doing so have solved the puzzle of its famous ‘planet’